Her words taken alone would have implied annoyance, but coupled with the tone of her voice, they conveyed compassion. The expression on her face had changed. She no longer looked irritated with him; in fact, somewhere deep in her eyes, a flicker of desire shone for just an instant. Stephen normally took a woman’s words at face value, but somehow her meaning came through more clearly than what she said, as if the question she had phrased was irrelevant. She didn’t want to know how easily he got his heart broken, she wanted to know if he had fallen for her in the few moments they had known each other. Regardless of what he thought she wanted, he couldn’t pursue her. She was engaged to marry another man.
“No, no. I have a lot on my mind at the moment.” Being evasive wasn’t his strong suit, but he couldn’t admit to her that she had seen right through him, not so soon anyway. It was difficult enough to admit to himself that he had fallen in love the moment he saw her and gotten his heart broken when he spotted her ring. He was being as ridiculous as an adolescent schoolboy who gets a crush on every pretty girl he sees. Worse than that, he was letting his imagination trick him into believing she felt the same way. “I came here to hang out with my friends and clear my head. Obviously they’re not coming, so...”
“So, what? Your friends are not coming, and you’re stuck with me. We can have a good time if you’ll just think of me as one of the guys.”
He raised his gaze to meet her indescribably sensuous brown eyes. The knot in his stomach moved into his chest and wrapped itself around his heart in a death grip. “You’re way too beautiful to be one of the guys.”
Audrey gasped ever so slightly. Had he not been paying such close attention he would have missed it. Something he said had apparently touched a sensitive spot. She quickly lowered her head and began twisting the ring around her finger. “What are we going to do for fun until this snow melts?”
Stephen suddenly didn’t feel quite so immature. Her reaction, however tiny, was an indication that he could be right about her feelings. The tightness in his chest eased off, letting the blood flow once again. He smiled and winked at her, deciding to play it by ear and stop overanalyzing the situation. “I had all sorts of fun ideas, but they flew out the window when I noticed that ring.”
Audrey grabbed the deck of cards from the table. “How about a game of Go Fish?”
Stephen groaned. “Seriously?”
She nodded, grinning at him.
“Hey, I suppose it’s better than doing nothing. If I had beer and a big stogie, playing a kids’ game might not be so painful.”
She glanced toward the kitchen. “You don’t have a fridge full of beer?”
“I brought the food. The other guys were bringing the fun stuff.”
“Oh.” Audrey scowled for a moment, and then her face lit up. “Oh!” She reached into her purse, pulled out two fat Swisher Sweets, and held one out to him.
He took it from her hand and ran it under his nose, inhaling the sweet fragrance of tobacco. “You smoke cigars?”
“No, someone left them in the cabin. I don’t even know why I put them in my purse. I guess I just like the way they smell.”
“They’re probably old and dried out.” Stephen peeled off the wrapper. The cigar was as moist and fresh as new. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise. So, Audrey, do you play poker?”
Audrey pursed her lips and gazed thoughtfully at him. “That’s a card game, right? You have to bet, don’t you? I don’t have any cash.”
Stephen flipped his hand at her as if batting away her notion. “Oh, playing for money is no fun. I have a much better idea, if you’re game, that is. Now, do you mind if I fire up this thing?”
“I don’t mind. I’ll have the other one.” She pulled off the wrapper and poked the cigar into the corner of her mouth.
There was something wickedly sexy about the contradictions in the sight of an utterly feminine beauty with a fat stogie stuck between her lips. Stephen had the sudden urge to pluck it out and kiss her until they both passed out from lack of oxygen. Fortunately, he had just enough self-control left not to do it.
“Okay, a word of advice. Don’t inhale. In fact, don’t even puff it after you get it going. Just hold it in your mouth and let it burn. Otherwise, you’ll be in the bathroom, barfing your guts out before long.”
“I’ll trust your advice. My dad would kick my butt if he saw me with a cigar in my mouth. I know exactly what he would say.” Audrey lowered her voice, narrowed her gaze, and furrowed her brow, imitating her father. “Smoking just makes you smell like a barroom toilet.”
Stephen chuckled. “He’s right. I only smoke cigars when I’m drinking beer and playing poker with my buddies. We get together one weekend a month for a game, that’s all.” He hurried into the kitchen, came back with an ashtray, and placed it on the table. Stephen lit his cigar, then used it to light Audrey’s. “The day is looking up already. Now the question is, how adventurous can you get with that ring on your finger?”
Audrey blinked twice and raised an eyebrow. “You want to play me for my ring?” She took the cigar from between her lips and set it in the ashtray.
He slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t want your ring.”
Audrey leaned toward him, gazing into his eyes, and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “Well, Stephen, what do you want?” She held her left hand up, prominently displaying the diamond.
Stephen sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. What he wanted was her, but in order to have her he’d have to coerce Audrey into violating her commitment. The air in the room suddenly couldn’t sustain him. Sparkles floated in his vision as a jumble of thoughts rushed through his mind. If he could have crawled out of his skin and run away, he would have. He wasn’t a thief or a swindler, but that was the path he was headed down. The aching desire he felt for Audrey was no justification for ignoring his morals, but the will of a man’s heart is a formidable force to contend with. He squirmed in his seat and plunked his cigar into the ashtray opposite Audrey’s. “On second thought, let’s play Go Fish.”
Audrey sat back in her chair and folded her hands into her lap. “Relax, Stephen, no one is going to burst through the door and shoot you for playing poker with me.”
He gazed down at the cards as he shuffled, intentionally avoiding eye contact with her. “I haven’t told you the game, yet. It could be cause for a jealous man to fire a few rounds.” When he looked up he raised both eyebrows twice, hoping she’d catch his meaning.
She gave him a long, expressionless stare as if contemplating his, obviously, less than wholesome suggestion. “Still”—she paused for a moment, biting her bottom lip—”you’re relatively safe.”
“Only because no one can get here through the snow.” He set the deck onto the table and tapped the top.
“I suppose that’s true.” Audrey giggled and cut the cards. “Deal, before I change my mind.”
Chapter Two
Audrey showed her hand. Full house. Stephen slapped his cards down hard, took off his boxer briefs, and tossed them into her pile on top of the rest of his clothes. Audrey was still wearing everything she had started with. He plopped back into his chair and pointed at her. “You, lady, are a card shark. How did you manage to win every hand?”
Audrey couldn’t help but laugh. He looked so adorable sitting there, naked, wearing a bewildered grimace. “You’re just not a very good poker player.”
Stephen gathered the cards into a stack, gave them a quick shuffle, and plopped them onto the table. “I’ve never lost this badly to anyone.”
She shrugged and cocked her head to one side. “Maybe I cheated. Maybe I make my living traveling to casinos and beating the house. Maybe there’s a mirror behind you and I could see all your cards.”
“What?” Stephen glanced over his shoulder, but there was no mirror. “Were you cheating or not?”
She giggled because she had actually gotten him to look for a mirror. “No, I wasn’t cheating. It was a little bit of sk
ill, but mostly luck, that’s all.”
Stephen shook his head and slapped his palm on the tabletop. “Nobody’s that lucky.”
Audrey averted her gaze, feeling a little guilty for tricking him, and decided it was time to come clean. “I kind of, accidentally, forgot to mention that my father was in the Navy. That’s where he learned to play poker. We’ve been having a family poker night every Saturday as long as I can remember. I started playing when I was six or seven.”
Stephen huffed and shot her an irritated scowl. “Accidentally forgot, my butt.”
Despite the tone of Stephen’s voice and his deep frown, she didn’t believe he was really upset, probably just a little embarrassed. Somehow everything he said was funny, and she couldn’t keep from laughing. He was exactly the way she had imagined him so long ago, but this guy wasn’t her Stephen, he was just a Stephen, who happened to be in the right place at the moment she needed him most. Her Stephen wasn’t real in a physical sense, although he had been a constant companion throughout her late childhood and early teens. He was only a fantasy that she had turned to when no one else understood what she was going through.
She had never noticed that she was different until she started school and the remarks began. Some were innocent, informing her that she needed to wash the spots off her face. Some were cruel, like the one boys would recite under their breath whenever she passed by: “I’d rather be dead than red on the head.” Her parents dismissed the harassment as childish teasing and said she should ignore it, without understanding that she’d never be allowed to ignore it.
It was difficult pretending for her family that everything was fine. Stephen was the only one who got it. He’d listen tirelessly, always sympathetic, never judging. The long conversations with her imaginary friend were the only things that got her through those lonely, depressing years. By her sophomore year of high school, she had developed pretty well and the boys had interests in her other than making her cry. She had met her fiancé, Daniel, that year, and having a real friend lessened the need for an imaginary one. The cruelty of her peers had faded as they matured, but the damage was done. Even when surrounded by true friends she still felt like an outsider.
After one short phone conversation the day before that contained the most devastating news she had ever heard, she had reverted back into her fantasy world, only this time she was projecting her imagination onto a real person.
Stephen sat drumming his fingers on the table scowling at her like a sore loser. “Did you play poker with your family for money?”
“No, just chips, just for fun.” Audrey wondered if he would have been as disappointed if they had been playing for money or if he was just bummed out because he hadn’t managed to get her clothes off. He’d probably be even more disappointed if he had gotten them off.
“Oh, I had this image of the adults beating the kids out of their allowance.”
“You’re so silly.” She extended her hand across the table to him. “Good game.”
Stephen grudgingly shook her hand. “Yeah, not for me. That was no fun at all.”
“I had fun.” She gathered his clothes into a ball.
He cleared his throat, leaned across the table, and grasped his clothes, but she didn’t let him have them. “I’d like those back so I can get dressed. It’s cold in here.”
She shook her head, pulling the ball tightly to her chest. She wasn’t ready for him to get dressed. Relieving him of his clothes one piece at a time had been quite a thrill. Even more thrilling was the confused glare he gave her each time her hand beat his. After the heartbreaking event she had just experienced, Audrey needed all the enjoyment she could get, and she had a suspicion that Stephen could provide her with plenty. “If you want them back, you’ll have to earn them back.”
He threw up his hands in defeat. “All right, deal the cards.”
“I’m bored with cards.” She leaned back, gazing at his muscular chest. The layers of winter clothes he had been wearing had effectively hidden his toned body. A little flush rose to the surface of her skin. Playing strip poker had been a good idea after all. “Do you work out? You have nice—you look like you work out.”
Stephen shrugged as a pink hue spread across his cheeks. “Some. I get it mostly from carrying lumber, framing houses.”
She nodded slowly, drinking in the sight before her. His pecks, shoulders, and arms were well defined. Not freakishly large like a steroid-injecting bodybuilder, but big enough to make her palms sweat at the thought of running her hands over the rock-solid masses. “Do you like doing that?”
“It’s honest work, good as anything else, I suppose.”
The table obscured his body below the top of his abs, leaving her imagination to fill in the details. “You’re probably just as muscular all the way down, aren’t you?”
“If you really want to know, come over here. You have my clothes. I’ve got no way to hide.”
Audrey slid her chair back. As much as she wanted to take him up on his offer, she resisted the urge to stand. She had to be careful. With her prior commitment in such a tenuous state, she could easily see herself getting lost in the delicious man sitting across from her. What harm is there in having some fun? After all, Daniel had his fun. No, I can’t turn this into some petty attempt at revenge. Still... “Get up on the table and break dance for me. If you’re good enough, I may let you have them back.”
Stephen folded his arms over his chest and shook his head. “The only thing I’ll be breaking, if I’m on the table dancing, is my neck. I play a mean air guitar, but that would be stupid without any music.”
She pursed her lips for a moment, trying to stifle a grin as a mischievous idea came to her. “Okay, make me a snow angel and you can have them back.”
He shrugged nonchalantly as if it was no big deal. “I can do that, but I need to get dressed first.”
Audrey could no longer contain her smile. “No, you have to do it naked or not at all.”
Stephen hardened his expression. “That’s just cruel.” He leaned back in his chair, locked his hands behind his head, and gazed thoughtfully at her. “I’ll tell you what, strip down, and we’ll make naked snow angels together.”
“Nope, you lost. If you want your clothes back, you have to play by my rules.”
“Aw, you’re no fun.” Stephen glanced toward the window and sat there, brooding. Just when Audrey thought there was no chance he’d do it, he spoke up. “All right, come on.”
She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. The snow was falling hard, but the wind had died down for the moment. The layout of the cabin was nearly identical to the one she had been staying in. The porch was the same size and faced the same direction. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, she had stood on that other porch with her phone to her ear and tears streaming down her cheeks. Audrey twisted her engagement ring around her finger, wondering how far she could fling it. If she could bring herself to cast it into the blizzard, never to be seen again, her problems might go with it. Dammit, Daniel, you stupid, stupid man. I made you my world.
Audrey turned around and gazed at Stephen standing in the doorway. One day my life goes to hell and the next I find him here waiting for me? No, it’s just a coincidence, that’s all. Daniel has my head so screwed up I’m losing it. Pull it together, Audrey, before you break down again. There’s a gorgeous, naked man standing in front of you. Do you want him to see you cry?
Stephen ran out into the snow and flopped onto his back, sinking much deeper than Audrey had expected. He made a halfway decent angel, given the excessive depth of the snow. By the time he jumped up, he was already looking blue. That wasn’t funny. It was cruel, just like he said. What a dumb thing for me to suggest.
Audrey dusted his back and hair while quickly shuffling him to the wood-burning stove. She grabbed a blanket that was hanging on the back of the sofa, tossed it around his shoulders, and stepped inside it with him. As he drew her into his powerful embrace, the rest of the world fell away. O
nly the two of them remained, locked inside one perfect moment. Despite the frigidity of his skin, his body responded to the heat of the spot she had pressed firmly against him. And in that instant, she understood. She had been in the arms of a man before, but she had never been held. Another man had placed his hands upon her, but she had never been touched. She sank deeper into his grasp, heart pounding, longing to merge her soul with his, and marveled at how a simple hug could so profoundly alter her mood.
Audrey gazed up into his deep blue eyes and wondered if he could tell from the look on her face how much she wanted him. She raised her index finger, traced the thin line of razor stubble adorning his square jaw, and continued up into his thick, dark hair. The bulge planted against her crotch jerked, sending a pulse of pleasure racing through her. “You didn’t have to do that. I would have given you your clothes. I was just being silly.”
“Oh, now you tell me,” he said, going extra heavy on the sarcasm.
“Sorry.”
He grinned sheepishly. “I came prepared to stay a week. I didn’t need those clothes back, I have plenty more. I did it because you asked, not because I thought I had to. It got you into my arms, so it was totally worth it.” Stephen rubbed his hands up and down her spine. “Do you have any idea how glad I am that you’re here?” He lowered his face toward hers, obviously intending to kiss her.
Audrey shook her head and looked away, unable to lie while caught in his penetrating stare. “Don’t get the wrong idea. This is not a romantic hug. It’s just to help get you warm.” Even as those words crossed her lips, she considered pulling off her sweater, so she could feel the firmness of his bare chest pressing against her breasts.
He squirmed against her, holding her tight, leaving no room for her to doubt how glad he was that she was there. “Whether you mean it to be romantic or not, you still feel nice. What I mean is I think you’d feel nice, if my skin wasn’t numb,” Stephen said.
She swatted his butt and giggled.
“Hey! I felt that.”
Audrey reluctantly let him go. Her chest tightened as she stepped away, and the urge to rush right back into his arms nearly overcame her. She glanced down in time to see the result of her hug before he closed the blanket around himself. Oh, God, what am I doing? She poked her fingers against the corners of his mouth and pushed it into a smile. “Okay, how about I give you a consolation prize, since you’re so bummed out about losing our little card game.”
Snowbound Hearts Page 2